
Hell Bent (Broken Magic, #1)
Broken Magic Series, is a spin-off of the Allie Beckstrom series — written by Devon Monk.
Genres and Sub-Genres[]
Urban Fantasy / Post Magic Apocalyptic
Series Description or Overview[]
This series takes place about three years after the magic apocalypse. — In the apocalyptic finale of Magic for a Price, the ninth and final AB novel, magic was muted forever. In the past, magic users could do violent things with their magic, but that is no longer the case—with one rare exception: Soul Complements (SCs). SCs are two magic users who are magically bonded so that they can use their magic together, breaking it into its light and dark forms and casting it once again with full force and effect—just as before the apocalypse. The Authority's Overseer of Portland warns the four sets of SCs who attend a meeting with him that the U.S. government has discovered that SCs are not affected by the newly muted magic, and they are hunting them down and kidnapping them. ~ Fang-tastic
Lead's Species[]
mage
Primary Supe[]
mages
What Sets it Apart[]
Narrative Type and Narrators[]
Narrated in the first person voice of Shamus (Shame) Flynn, one of the primary characters in the AB series.
Books in Series[]
Broken Magic duology:
- Hell Bent (2013)
- Stone Cold (April 1, 2014) ~ Final
Companion Series, Spinoffs, Sequels or Prequels[]
Broken Magic is a spin-off and set in the same world as: Allie Beckstrom series
Other Series by Author onsite[]
Themes, Motifs, Symbolism[]
World Building[]
NOTE: This series is set in the world of the Allie Beckstrom series where more information an be found on World Building.
Setting[]
Portland, Oregon
Places:
Supernatural Elements[]
✥ Mages, ghosts,
Glossary:[]
- Soul Compliments (SC): or Breakers—two magic users who are magically bonded so that they can use their magic together, breaking it into its light and dark forms and casting it once again with full force and effect. The apocalypse had little effect on SC's—it did not diminish their power. The U.S. government is hunting them down and kidnapping them.
- Authority's Overseer: Oversees the Authority in Portland
- Closers: magic users who, in the AB series, could wipe the memories of other magic users judged to be threats to society—several former closers are being found dead.
Groups & Organizations:[]
- The Authority: an elite, secretive group of magic users that who govern mages and used to protect the wells of magic around the city before the magic apocalypse.
World[]
This story is set in the world Allie Beckstrom series three years after the magic apocalypse which occurred in the final book. The series hero (or anti-hero) explains what happened: "Magic…didn't have the delightfully dangerous 'use it hard and it will use you back harder' kick like the days before the apocalypse. We'd forced dark and light magic to join and mingle together, diluting the strength of both. Magic had gone soft. Limp. Light spells were a dim glow. Illusions were thin as glass, and a knock-you-senseless Impact spell was no worse than a polite pat…. And while I found it hilarious that people who used to do very bad things with magic were now raging to find the magical equivalent to Viagra, I was simultaneously just a little terrified about what magic could do in my hands. Well, in my hands and Terric's hands. Magic might be neutered, or 'healed' as Terric likes to remind me, for other magic users...But not for us. Soul Complements, or Breakers, as some people like to call us, could make magic do all those powerful things. As long as we used it together." (Hell Bent, p-6)
✥ Life Magic: "Life magic infiltrates, overtakes, possesses. Makes everything grow: plants, people…Disases, sickness … everything I touch I change. Everything that I touch I force to change…When I let go. When I relax, when I just let go and breathe…I become the monster. The magic. I become the hunger. And I don't want to stop." (Hell Bent, p. 73)
✥ Death Magic: "the constant hunger to kill, to consume, that made me count the pulse beat of every living thing around me….that had gotten so bad I salivated whenever I was in a closed room with people, plants, or combustibles. I needed life. Needed to drink it down, lap it up…consume it, burn it out, extinguish it. Grim-damn-Reaper style." (p. 2) ~ Fang-tastic
Protagonists[]
Shamus (Shame) Flynn, one of the primary characters in the AB series, is one half of a SC, the other half being his long-time friend Terric Conley. The friendship between the two men has waxed and waned over the years, and both have suffered through horrible magical injuries and even death. One element that complicates their relationship is that Terric is gay, while Shame is straight. Shame's magic is death magic, while Terric's is life magic. Shame needs life to exist; he has a constant, driving hunger to pull life from any living thing, from plants to animals to humans. Terric, on the other hand, exudes life. He can make plants grow and he can heal people—even bring them back from death. Neither is particularly happy about his magic. ~ Fang-tastic
✥ Shame Flynn: Shame has always been a bad-boy character—drinking heavily, partying every night, falling into bed with any woman who catches his fancy, and generally avoiding anything to do with work. Shame hates his magic even more passionately, and he believes he and Terric will eventually cause one another's deaths. Shame is also afraid that he will kill someone while he is in the grip of his hunger for life. Shame sees himself as a monster and can't bear to be around his friends, most of whom are heartily sick of his rude and arrogant behavior even though they are sympathetic to his problematic magical situation.
- "...the constant hunger to kill, to consume, that made me count the pulse beat of every living thing around me….that had gotten so bad I salivated whenever I was in a closed room with people, plants, or combustibles. I needed life. Needed to drink it down, lap it up…consume it, burn it out, extinguish it. Grim-damn-Reaper style." (p. 2)
- Here's how Shame sees his future: "I would become a killing monstrosity like Jingo Jingo [an AB super-villain] or other Death magic users before me, or I would die, consumed by my own hunger. Since the whole monstrosity thing was just too cliche and would make my mum cry, I'd made my choice. There was no need to drag Terric down with me." (Hell Bent, p. 7) ~ Fang-tastic
✥ Terric Conley: Terric, on the other hand, is a hard-working, sober, neat and tidy man who keeps his sexual relationships monogamous. Terric explains his feelings about life magic:
- "Life magic infiltrates, overtakes, possesses. Makes everything grow: plants, people…Disases, sickness … everything I touch I change. Everything that I touch I force to change…When I let go. When I relax, when I just let go and breathe…I become the monster. The magic. I become the hunger. And I don't want to stop." ~ Fang-tastic
Sidekick[]
Name: — What: — Sidekick-to: — About: — Book First Seen In:
Characters Chart[]
Characters | What | About |
---|---|---|
Shame, Shamus Flynn | Death magic user | Everything he touches dies; Soul Compliment: Terric Conley; |
Terric Conley | Life Magic | Soul Compliment: Shamus Flynn; |
Eli Collins | mage | murder suspect by his magical signature; bad guy from the AB series |
Krogher | Gvt Man | teamed with Eli to create walking magical bombs with the goal of killing all the Soul Complement pairs and controlling the magic that can be controlled. |
Eleanor Roth | ||
Allie Beckstrom | ||
Cody Miller | ||
Kevin Cooper | ||
To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table or Column (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column.

Devon Monk — Author
Author[]
Devon Monk
- Website: Devon Monk
- Genres: Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, SciFi & Fantasy shorts
Bio: Devon lives in Oregon with one husband and two sons. Her series include the Allie Beckstrom urban fantasy novels, The Age of Steam steampunk series the Broken Magic urban fantasy spin-off books, and the House Immortal future-fantasy trilogy. She also has a collection of short stories titled: A Cup of Normal. When not writing, she is knitting silly things, or drinking too much coffee. ~ Devon Monk, Deadline Dames.
Contributors[]
Cover Artists[]
- Artist: — Source: not listed
Other Contributors:
- Audio Book Narrator: — Source:
- Editor: — Source:
Publishing Information[]
- Publisher:
- Author Page:
- Hell Bent:
- Stone Cold:
Book Cover Blurbs—Broken Magic[]
✤ BOOK ONE—Hell Bent (2013): Instead of the deadly force it once was, magic is now a useless novelty. But not for Shame Flynn and Terric Conley, “breakers" who have the gift for reverting magic back to its full-throttle power. In the magic-dense city of Portland, Oregon, keeping a low profile means keeping their gifts quiet. After three years of dealing with disgruntled magic users, Shame and Terric have had enough of politics, petty magic, and, frankly, each other. It's time to call it quits. When the government discovers the breakers' secret—and its potential as a weapon—Shame and Terric suddenly become wanted men, the only ones who can stop the deadly gift from landing in the wrong hands. If only a pair of those wrong hands didn't belong to a drop-dead-gorgeous assassin Shame is falling for as if it were the end of the world. And if he gets too close to her, it very well could be. ~ Hell Bent Excerpt #1 — Hell Bent – Excerpt #2 — Hell Bent – Excerpt #3
✤ BOOK TWO—Stone Cold (April 1, 2014) : Marked by Life and Death magic, Shame Flynn and Terric Conley are “breakers”—those who can use magic to its full extent. Most of the time, they can barely stand each other, but they know they have to work together to defeat a common enemy—rogue magic user Eli Collins.
Backed by the government, Eli is trying to use magic as a weapon by carving spells into the flesh of innocents and turning them into brainless walking bombs. To stop him, Shame and Terric will need to call on their magic, even as it threatens to consume them—because the price they must pay to wield Life and Death could change the very fate of the world…and magic itself. ~ Stone Cold Excerpt
First Sentences[]
- Hell Bent (2013) — I'm the type of guy who, given the chance, can break anything: hearts, dreams, lives, and yes, magic.
- Stone Cold (April 1, 2014) — The door behind Eleanor opened, letting in the March wind, a little rain, and the man I had come here to kill.
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Lists That Contain Hell Bent (Broken Magic, #1) by Devon Monk
- Lists That Contain Stone Cold (Broken Magic, #2) by Devon Monk
- Best Urban\Noir\Fantasy Fiction Series (27 books)
- 2015 Endeavour Award Submissions (21 books)
Awards[]
Read Alikes (suggestions)[]
— If you like these, you may like this:
- Cal Leandros series
- Kate Daniels series
- Arcadia Bell series
- Dresden Files series
- Iron Druid Chronicles
- Peter Grant series
- Prospero's War series
- Alex Verus series
- Nightside series
- Magic Ex Libris series
- Matthew Swift series
- Simon Canderous series
- Ustari Cycle series
- Webmage series
- Felix Castor series
- Connor Grey series
- Twenty Palaces series
- Grimnoir Chronicles series
- Sandman Slim series
- Pax Arcana series
- Hidden Legacy series
- Retrievers series
- Abby Sinclair series
- Walker Papers series
- Sentinels of New Orleans series
- Elemental Assassin series
- Corine Solomon series
- Negotiator Trilogy
- Craft Sequence series
- Magicals Anonymous series
- Scarlett Bernard series
- Spellmason Chronicles series
- Shadow Reader Series
- Shaede Assassin series
- Black London series
- Fault Lines series
Notes[]
See Also[]
- Allie Beckstrom series
- House Immortal series
- Age of Steam series
- Devon Monk
- UF Release Schedules
- List of Sidekicks
- List of Vampires of Urban Fantasy
- Characters (category)
- List of PNR Anthologies and Collections
- List of UF Anthologies
- List of Cover Artists
- Urban Fantasy Links
Category links at bottom of page
External References[]
Books:
- Broken Magic ~ Author
- Broken Magic series by Devon Monk ~ Goodreads
- Devon Monk ~ FF
- Broken Magic - ISFdb and: Allie Beckstrom Universe - Bibliography~ ISFdb
- Broken Magic Series ~ Shelfari
- Broken Magic | Series ~ LibraryThing
- Broken Magic series by Devon Monk ~ FictFact
- Devon Monk - Summary Bibliography ~ ISFdb (author)
Summaries:
World, Characters, etc:
- Fang-tastic Fiction: Devon Monk: BROKEN MAGIC SERIES
- Fang-tastic Fiction: Devon Monk: ALLIE BECKSTROM
- Broken Magic Series ~ Shelfari
- Allie Beckstrom Series ~ Shelfari
- Book Review: Devon Monk’s Hell Bent | KD DID IT Takes on Books ~ Character list
- Literature/Allie Beckstrom - Television Tropes & Idioms
- Allie Beckstrom is My Hero | Voxygen
Other Series:
- Age of Steam
- Goodreads | Age of Steam series by Devon Monk
- Broken Magic - new spin-off series
- Goodreads | Broken Magic series by Devon Monk
Reviews:
- Review: Hell Bent by Devon Monk | That's What I'm Talking About...
- Review: Stone Cold by Devon Monk - Fiction Vixen
- Review: Stone Cold by Devon Monk | That's What I'm Talking About...
Interviews, Guest Posts, Author Commentary:
Articles:
Author:
- Devon Monk: ~ Website
- Blog
- Goodreads | Devon Monk (Author of Magic to the Bone)
- Deadline Dames — Nine Writers ~ One Website ~ No Excuses
- Devon Monk
- Devon Monk - Wikipedia
Community, Fan Sites:
- Devon Monk - FB
- Devon Monk ~ tumblr
- Wits and Pieces - LJ
Gallery of Book Covers[]